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Phoenix00017 (1017168) writes "This is not a question of dire importance, but I'm becoming intensely curious about it. I've asked this question in a couple of forums on some tech-savvy websites and have gotten no answer. I've done some Googling and have yet to find a satisfactory response. So now I'm asking Slashdot if they have any insight on this phenomenon.

The question is simply this: if you create 4 files in a folder with names "a000.txt, 0a00.txt, 00a0.txt, and 000a.txt" (the extensions are required — if no extension is given my sort works fine for some odd reason) and then sort them by name, what order do you get and why?

In Windows XP Pro SP2, I get:

00a0.txt

0a00.txt

000a.txt

a000.txt

When posting in forums, I have seen at least 4 distinct sort orders for these files from other people's computers. I know that Windows XP and later use a different file name sort algorithm than Windows 2000 did. Is it this algorithm that's causing the problem? And how could that account for people getting so many variations of the sort? Do Linux and Mac OSX fall prey to similar oddities?"

Anonymous Coward writes "In the years I have read Slashdot, I have often enjoyed the cleverness and humor of some of the readers replies to the various stories. Take for instance one of the stories posted today about Iran building a supercomputer with 216 AMD processors, one wit quipped that 'Not only can they never be allowed to have nukes but it will be a cold day in hell before they are allowed to get the processing power to run Windows Vista!!!!!'

For the benefit of posterity, I recommend that these 'gems' should be collected and published in a book entitled 'Slashdot Gems.' However, if you feel this task would be quite an undertaking, a simplier way of sharing the mirth would be ask your readers for a list of their memorable Slashdot moments, and then post them in a story thread entitled 'The Best of Slashdot Humor'."

swehack writes "Norweigan computer science professor Kjell Jørgen Hole was dissapointed at how his bank handled the security concerns he had. So he took matters into his own hands, and made it a project to break the security as a proof of concept. Along with his students he worked for approximately 100 hours and managed to successfully break the banks security measures, transfer money between accounts without the owner noticing and steal the identity of banking customers. Original article in Swedish."

Submitted
by
Anthony Pecorella
on Wednesday November 28, 2007 @12:15PM

Anthony Pecorella (666) writes "Apparently someone has watched The Matrix: Revolutions a few too many times. Or, to give credit where credit is due, read Heinlein's Starship Troopers a few too many times. The robotic exoskeleton that the military and geeks alike have been drooling over for years is now a reality. While this prototype is still tethered with a power cord, they are apparently not far off from having a fully mobile model. The exoskeleton is quite agile and gives the wearer a significant boost in strength. From the article:

Imagine trying to lift 150 to 200 ammo cans that weigh 72 pounds each onto a pallet. Commanding his exoskelton, Rex does it. In a round robin, lifting 35-pound canisters, several of us — moving as fast as we can — can't keep up. Steve Emero of SARCOS felt so worn out he couldn't keep going. But Rex could.

Meshed with exoskeleton, Rex punches a bag with just the right amount of strength. From enough grace to gently play ball, to enough super-power to load a missile on an airplane, exoskeleton does it all.

The problem is that you're missing the point entirely. This has little to do with Manhunt, and has far more to do with censorship, violence in games, and main-stream portrayal of video games. This is what we call "precedence setting". While you might not care if they decide to ban Manhunt based on violence, something tells me you might care if they then decide that the upcoming Halo 4 (or God of War 3, or [insert bad-ass violent game sequel here]) game is excessively violent as well.

And before you come back telling me you never play violent games, it isn't so far to reach and say that Super Mario Bros., despite the lack of blood, still has the main character killing tons of seemingly-innocent wildlife. Sure, it seems like an incredible stretch, but you have to ask "where does it stop" once you start villainizing games and ignoring the fact that some games are made for adults as well.

Phoenix00017 (1017168) writes "Take-Two announced today that Manhunt 2 has been granted an "M" rating in the US, paving the way to a wide scale release. This is after working on creating a "modified" version of the game to satisfy the ESRB and drop the rating from the original "AO" rating it received.

"Manhunt 2 is important to us, and we're glad it can finally be appreciated as a gaming experience," said Sam Houser, founder and executive producer of Rockstar Games. "We love the horror genre. Manhunt 2 is a powerful piece of interactive story telling that is a unique video game experience. We think horror fans will love it."

Of course, one has to wonder what exactly drew the line between "M" and "AO" for this piece of software. And let's hope Rockstar didn't include any "special features" to be unlocked with any patches this time."

j0ugh writes "Dr. Henrik Ehrsson at the University College London has induced out-of-body experiences in subjects by giving them goggles containing a video screen for each eye. Each screen was fed images from a separate camera behind the participant. This provided a 3D image of their back. Dr Ehrsson then moved a plastic rod towards a location just below the cameras while the participant's real chest was simultaneously touched in the corresponding position. The participants reported feeling that they were located back where the cameras had been placed, watching a body that belonged to someone else."Link to Original Source

Phoenix00017 (1017168) writes "This question originally started as frustration about the fact that I can't calibrate my aim for the Wiimote (which is very annoying for any lightgun-like games). I know there are some clever physical hacks that allow you to do this, but why not just put it into software? But then this opened up a second question — since we have 3D accelerometer data, if we are given a calibrated "starting point", can we not know the exact 3D orientation and position of the Wiimote at any point in time? If, say, Wii Baseball told you to hold the bat straight in front of you and hit "A", would we then be able to track exactly when you swing, as opposed to just flicking your wrist in any direction? Would this not allow for much more immersive gameplay? Are there any games doing this? Or is there a flaw in my logic?"